INTRODUCTION TO BASIC OF

PSYCHOLOGY

Submitted To: Divya Srivastava Mam

Submitted By: Tshewang Dema
Registration No: 11810241
Roll No: RL1801B50
Course Name: Basic of Psychology
Course Code: PSY253
Program: BA LLB (Hons)
Semester: 6th Semester
 TABLE OF CONTENT
Sl.N TOPIC Page No
o

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY 1

3 MEANING OF PSYCHOLOGY 1-3

4 HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY 3-5

5 NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY 5-6

6 SCOPE OF PSCHOLOGY 6-7

7 THE FOUR BASIC GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY 7

8 DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY IN INDIA 7-8

9 CONCLUSION 8

10 BIBLIOGRAPHY 8

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INTRODUCTION

“According to Buddhist psychology most of our troubles stem from attachment to things that
we mistakenly see as permanent.”

~Dalai Lama
XIV

Work always involves humans. Humans are complex beings and their behaviour and their
health is the result of interaction within and between their internal biological, psychological
and social systems and their physical and social environment. Psychology is the scientific
study of mind and behaviour. The word “psychology” comes from the Greek words
“psyche,” meaning life, and “logos,” meaning explanation. Psychology is a popular major
for students, a popular topic in the public media, and a part of our everyday lives.
Psychology teaches us that choosing, perceiving, remembering, and other cognitive
activities involve complex processes that compete for limited mental resources. The human
brain is an amazing thing, but even when that brain is young and working well, it can reveal
its limits by slipping up in surprising ways—like forgetting a decision made a few seconds
ago just a few seconds later (choice blindness).

Human psychology differs from person-to-person and relies a lot on the living conditions
and the place where a person lives in. A character is not innate but something which is
formed through the experiences that a person has. It is therefore recommended that a child
should be brought up in a good environment so that the character of the child goes in a right
direction.1

Crime dramas such as Crime Petrol, CID and others feature of the work of forensic
psychologists who use psychological principles to help solve crimes. And many people have
direct knowledge about psychology because they have visited psychologists, for instance,
school counsellors, family therapists, and religious, marriage, or bereavement counsellors.

Though the concept of psychology was there from 19 th century but its varies due to change
of time as modernization and standard of people make things to be part in different level and

1
Introduction to basic psychology, available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338042312_Introduction_to_Psychology (visited on February 4,
2021).

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make their own perception hence different ideas and mental process take part and leads to
different discipline to be viewed.

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. It uses scientific
methods to study how, when, where and why we feel, think and act the way we do, and uses
psychological interventions to influence people. Mental process or the mind consists of
sensations, thoughts and feelings. Behaviour is observable actions, moving, talking,
activities of cells, etc. Psychology is really a very new science, with most advances
happening over the past 150 years or so. However, its origins can be traced back to ancient
Greece, 400 – 500 years BC.

MEANING OF PSYCHOLOGY2

Psychology as the science of the soul:

The earliest meaning of psychology was the science of the soul. Philosophers like Pluto,
Aristotle, and Descartes interpreted psychology according to this concept. Soul has been
neither measured nor has been seen by anyone, so this meaning of psychology was rejected.

Psychology as a science of mind:

Philosophers in the middle ages consider psychology as the science of mind. But they could
not find the location of the mind. Hence psychology as the science of mind could not
progress.

Psychology as the science of consciousness:

In the 19th century, some psychologists like William James, Wilhelm Wundt, and others
consider psychology as a science of consciousness. By consciousness, the psychologists
meant awareness or wakefulness. A great psychologist Freud objected to this meaning of
psychology. He said that man is only 10% conscious of his activities. Mostly he is
unconscious. So psychology cannot be given the meaning of science of consciousness.
Hence this meaning was also rejected.
2
Introduction to psychology, available at: https://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/9/9.00SC/MIT9_00SCF11_text.pdf
(visited on February 4, 2021).

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Psychology as a science of behavior:

It is the latest meaning of psychology. Psychology tells us about our behavior. Behavior
includes all the activities that man does. It includes internal and external behavior, conscious
as well as unconscious behavior. Behavior can be observed. All psychologists are agreed on
this meaning of psychology.

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology is an exciting field and the history of psychology offers the opportunity to make
sense of how it has grown and developed. The history of psychology also provides
perspective. Rather than a dry collection of names and dates, the history of psychology tells
us about the important intersection of time and place that defines who we are. The history of
psychology as a scholarly study of the mind and behavior dates back to the Ancient Greeks.

In Western culture, contributors to the development of psychology came from many areas,
beginning with philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle postulated the brain to be
the seat of the rational human mind, and in the 17th century René Descartes argued that the
mind gives people the capacities for thought and consciousness: the mind “decides” and the
body carries out the decision—a dualistic mind-body split that modern psychological
science is still working to overcome. Hippocrates philosophized about basic human
temperaments and their associated traits.3

Psychology as a separate, scientific discipline has existed for just over 100 years, but since
the dawn of time people have sought to understand human and animal nature. For many
years psychology was a branch of philosophy until scientific findings in the nineteenth
century allowed it to become a separate field of scientific study.

Psychology is a relatively young science with its experimental roots in the 19th century,
compared, for example, to human physiology, which dates much earlier. As mentioned,
anyone interested in exploring issues related to the mind generally did so in a philosophical
context prior to the 19th century. Two men, working in the 19th century, are generally
credited as being the founders of psychology as a science and academic discipline that was
distinct from philosophy. Their names were Wilhelm Wundt and William James.

3
Psychology; A Brief History, available at: https://science.jrank.org/pages/5562/Psychology-brief-history.html
(visited on February 5, 2021).

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In the mid-nineteenth century a number of German scientists (Johannes P. Muller, Hermann
von Helmholtz, and Gustav Fechner) performed the first systematic studies of sensation and
perception demonstrating that mental processes could be measured and studied
scientifically.

In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt, a German physiologist and philosopher, established the first formal
laboratory of psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Wundt's work separated
thought into simpler processes such as perception, sensation, emotion, and association. This
approach looked at the structure of thought and came to be known as structuralism.

In 1875 William James, an American physician well-versed in philosophy, began teaching

psychology as a separate subject for the first time in the United States, and he and his
students began doing laboratory experiments. In contrast to structuralists, James thought
consciousness flowed continuously and could not be separated into simpler elements without
losing its essential nature. For instance, when we look at an apple, we see an apple, not a
round, red, shiny object. James argued studying the structure of the mind was not as
important as understanding how it functions in helping us adapt to our surroundings. This
approach became known as functionalism.

In 1913, the American psychologist John B. Watson, argued that mental processes could not
be reliably located or measured, and that only observable, measurable behavior should be
the focus of psychology. This approach, known as behaviorism, held that all behavior could
be explained as responses to stimuli in the environment. Behaviorists tend to focus on the
environment and how it shapes behavior. For instance, a strict behaviorist trying to
understand why a student studies hard might say it is because he is rewarded by his teacher
for getting good grades. Behaviorists would think posessing internal motivations such as a
desire to succeed or a desire to learn is unnecessary.

At about the same time behaviorism was gaining a hold in America, Gestalt psychology,
founded by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler, arose in Germany. Gestalt
(a German word referring to wholeness) psychology focussed on perception and, like
William James, argued that perception and thought cannot be broken into smaller pieces
without losing their wholeness or essence. They argued that humans actively organize
information and that in perception the wholeness and pattern of things dominates. For
instance, when we watch movies we perceive people and things in motion, yet the eye sees

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what movies really are, that is, individual still pictures shown at a constant rate. The
common saying "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" illustrates this important
concept.

Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, began his career in the 1890s and formulated
psychoanalysis, which is both a theory of personality and a method of treating people with
psychological difficulties. His most influential contribution to psychology was his concept
of the unconscious. To Freud our behavior is largely determined by thoughts, wishes, and
memories of which we are unaware. Painful childhood memories are pushed out of
consciousness and become part of the unconscious from where they can greatly influence
behavior. Psychoanalysis as a method of treatment strives to bring these memories to
awareness and free the individual from his or her often negative influence.4

The 1950s saw the development of cognitive and humanistic psychologies. Humanistic
psychology was largely created by Abraham Maslow who felt psychology had focused more
on human weakness than strength, mental illness over mental health, and that it neglected
free will. Humanistic psychology looks at how people achieve their own unique potential or
self-actualization.

Cognitive psychology focuses on how people perceive, store, and interpret information,
studying processes like perception, reasoning, and problem solving. Unlike behaviorists,
cognitive psychologists believe it is necessary to look at internal mental processes in order to
understand behavior. Cognitive psychology has been extremely influential, and much
contemporary research is cognitive in nature.

NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology is the scientific study and practical application of observable behavior and
mental processes of organisms. Psychology differs from other social sciences such as:
Sociology, History, or Economics, because psychology specifically deals with the study of
an individual. The other social sciences will study groups, or history. Psychology is less a
science of reported findings, it attempts asks and answers questions using observable
behavior and what can be determined as mental processes of the subject. Thus, Psychology
is a science. It is a science that studies behaviour that is, what people do, reasons for doing
4
The Origins of Psychology; From Philosophical Beginnings to the Modern Day, available at:
https://www.verywellmind.com/a-brief-history-of-psychology-through-the-years-2795245 (visited on February
7, 2021).

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certain things, conditions under which this behaviour occurs, etc. Let us explore the nature
of Psychology through the following characteristics:

 A psychologist may offer treatment that focuses on behavioural adaptations.

 A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who is more likely to focus on medical

management of mental health issues.

 There are different types of psychology, such as forensic, cognitive, social, and
developmental psychology.

 Psychology is the study of function and behaviour of the mind.

 A person with a condition that affects their mental health may benefit from
assessment and treatment with a psychologist.

SCOPE OF PSCHOLOGY

Psychology is chiefly concerned with human behavior. Anything that has a direct bearing on
the behavior of an individual can be included in the scope of psychology. The scope of
psychology includes its fields of study.

Following are the Scope of Psychology from the Various fields or branches of psychology or
areas discussed below:

Developmental processes: It deals with the development of perception, cognition,

language, skills, personality, and social relationships of an individual. It also tells us about
the stages of growth, principles of growth, and factors of growth.

Cognition: Cognitive psychology deals with the conscious & unconscious mental processes,
sensation and perception, conditioning and learning, attention & consciousness, sleep and
dreaming, memory and forgetting, reasoning and decision making, imagining, problem-
solving, & language.

Personality: All that is discussed in psychology is ultimately concerned with the

psychological concept of personality. Personality can be understood as an umbrella
enveloping all the aspects of psychology related to human behavior

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Cross-cultural and cultural psychology: It is the study of the ways in which social and
cultural forces shape human behavior and how they too in return are shaped by human
behavior.

Education and learning process: This field is concerned with all aspects of educational
problems like learning, teacher training, classroom situation, counselling of children, etc.
Psychology also studies the meaning of learning, theories, factors, and principles of learning.

Environmental psychology: This field deals with the interaction between the physical
world like noise, heat, humidity, pollution, and crowding, etc. and human behavior.

Social psychology: It attempts to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior
and thought in social situations.

THE FOUR BASIC GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. Description of behaviour by accurately naming and classifying the behaviour.
2. Explanation of behaviour by stating the causes in order to explain the behaviour.
3. Prediction is the ability to foretell behaviour.
4. Changing of behaviour is the ability to influence or control the behaviour.

DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY IN INDIA

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change
over the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has
expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan.
Developmental psychologists aim to explain how thinking, feeling, and behaviors change
throughout life.It was during the British period that education was given emphasis for the
Indians. Psychology was a stream that was embedded in Philosophy. Since there was a lot of
western influence on the psychologists in India, they became more western in their training
and orientation.

In India, however the roots of psychology can be traced back to the vast philosophical and
religious literature: namely, Vedic and Epic literature.  In particular, Vedas, Yoga Sutras,
Bhagavad Gita are the Indian sources for analysing various aspects of man's behaviour and
mind.  It was around that this time that Sri Aurobindo made significant contribution to
psychology from the Indian tradition. Psychology was an important part of his voluminous

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writings. With all these influences and the basic emphasis on education: Psychology as a
subject gained a lot of momentum.5

Psychology was first introduced in Calcutta University in the Department of Philosophy in

the year1916.The first generation of psychologists after independence were people from the
background of Philosophy. Separate Psychology Departments were largely started between
1940-1960. The Indian Psychological association was founded in 1924 and the Indian
Journal of Psychology appeared a year later. During this time another significant person
was Girendra Shekar Bose, who was inclined towards Psycho analysis and started the Indian
Psychoanalytic Society. He was the first person to be awarded a PhD from an Indian
University (i.e. Calcutta). He established the Lumbi Park Mental Health Hospital in Calcutta
in 1940 and in 1947 brought out the journal 'Samiksha'. The department also started an
applied psychology wing in 1938 when Jung, Meyers and Spearman were invited to the
Silver Jubilee session on the Indian Science Congress.

CONCLUSION

Any knowledge disciple is hard to define. Firstly, because it evolves continuously. Secondly,
because the range of phenomena it studies cannot be capture by any one definition. This is
even more true of psychology. Long time back, we like us were told that the term psyche
means the Soul and logos meaning science or study of a subject. Thus psychology was a
study of the soul or mind. But since then it has moved away considerably from this focus
and established itself as a scientific discipline which deals with processes underlying human
experiences and behaviour. The range of phenomena it studies, some of which is have
mentioned above are spread over several levels by individual, group and organization. They
also have biological as well as social bases. Naturally, therefore, the methods required to
study them also vary greatly depending on the phenomenon one wants to study. Thus
keeping in this view, psychology is defined as a science which study mental process,
experience and behaviour in different context.

Therefore psychology is all about the mental process of the individual and experience that
one go through. Then people can study one after and feel at the same moment. As people

5
Psychology in India: Perceptions and Perspectives, available at:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/097133369901100102?journalCode=pdsa (visited on February 7,
2021).

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seek into behaviours one others as the psychology have acted as discipline in every life and
different people look psychology in to different ways and make them read too.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338042312_Introduction_to_Psychology
https://learn.saylor.org/course/PSYCH101
https://learn.saylor.org/mod/url/view.php?id=20267
https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/1-1-what-is-psychology
https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/1-2-the-evolution-of-psychology-
history-approaches-and-questions/

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